There are a lot of good reasons why the Denver Nuggets are flying under the NBA radar. The reasons to start paying them a lot more attention are just as good.

Tuesday night was a microcosm of the Nuggets' relative obscurity. If a team extends a winning streak to 13 games, and does it on the home court of the defending West champs and current third-best team in the league, and does it with the playoffs only one month and one day away … shouldn't that be the talk of the league, if not the entire sports world?

Not even close.

But what the Nuggets did in handling the Thunder in Oklahoma City 114-104 deserves notice. And the best place to start is with the man at the controls, coach George Karl, who just three seasons ago was sitting out a large portion of the season and the entire playoffs fighting a second battle with cancer.

Two seasons ago, he was managing a team through the grinder of the Carmelo Anthony trade drama, and then the roster upheaval from the trade itself.

Karl, who looked as if he couldn't stand his team back then and couldn't stand coaching even more, now has a group constructed largely of pieces from that trade. That group is within shouting distance of the powers — the star-driven powers — in the West. A half-game and a handful of percentage points separate the Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies for the third, fourth and fifth seeds in the conference.

The Nuggets haven't lost at home since Jan. 18 and share the best home record in the league with the Miami Heat. And they haven't lost, period, since Feb. 22. The Heat are the only team in that conversation, too. Which, of course, is part of the problem. Honestly, with what the Heat are doing, the Nuggets ought to be happy with second billing.

By all accounts, they are.

The Nuggets come off like a group with perspective. The whole business of not having a true star, no obvious go-to, take-over player, is not only not a problem, but it's working to their benefit, too.

Never mind, of course, that moving a certain take-over player set this all in motion. No fewer than 10 players on the roster came as a result of that 2011 trade with the New York Knicks, as counted up by The Denver Post. Then and now, it doesn't seem to fit well on paper.

It fits wonderfully on the court, though. They mesh. They play a style that works for them.

As for their perspective, that being a non-marquee team with non-marquee players? The Nuggets come by it honestly. Their coach is surrounded by a virtual force field of perspective. Outside of the Heat scorching the earth with their winning streak and their clear path back to the Finals, the Nuggets' smoking-hot run has guaranteed them nothing, and Karl, as brilliant as he's been in making this team into what it is, gets that.

"I don't know where it ranks in NBA history, but it's a good run," he told reporters after the win over the Thunder. "I don't want to get too happy about it because we have a job to do, and we have a challenge. It's to move in to get home court (advantage in the playoffs). There's no question that the brand of basketball that we're playing is growing and maturing, and our confidence is growing with it."

The brand of ball fits his personality and philosophy. A lifelong, faithful Dean Smith disciple devoted to playing as a team and playing "the right way,'' he was never going to go far with the Carmelo-centric team he was coaching. He may not go any further with this one than he did with that one (one trip out of the first round, albeit a trip to the West finals in 2009). But the trip itself is one he seems to enjoy more.

In fact, almost two weeks ago, in the middle of the current streak, Karl told The Post that he thought the last truly impressive run he remembered was three seasons ago — coincidentally, around the time he had his second cancer diagnosis.

That team, with Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups, Chris "Birdman" Andersen and assorted other veterans, won eight in a row in January. It was maxing out its talent, Karl believed. It also ended up losing in the first round, again ... with interim coach Adrian Dantley in Karl's place.

The Melo-drama began in earnest the next season.

"This is actually more fun,'' Karl told The Post, "because you're seeing guys grow up and seeing guys understand and get better and the enjoyment of winning and celebrating their success."

It's hard for the rest of America to celebrate it right now, with so much else grabbing its attention. No matter. Come playoff time, Karl and his Nuggets might have more attention—and more to celebrate—than they can imagine now.

Wherever they end up, Karl will be happier than he's been in a long time. He'll deserve it, too.